 The history of art is merely a series of stories told in visual form. The nature of human narrative is both personal and universal. In her new series of work, Diem Chau populates the Cafe Joe Bar with fragments of her own personal history. Based on her deceased father’s collection of family photos and journal entries spanning their time from Vietnam to a paperwork error that turned them away from the US and to a refugee camp in the Philippines, the works in Storytelling reflect a child's innocence where the subjects enjoy what they think is normal existence. Chau will also display several large-scale mixed-media paintings based on the same photographs that were recently seen at the Phinney Ridge Art Center.
"I consider myself an artist whose medium is Stories, especially stories that are primarily passed on orally. Coming from a nomadic childhood, what few possessions my family had were necessities. The things of greatest value to us were stories contributed by friends and family. Embedded in theses stories are connections to the past, our culture and an occasional escape from reality.
 My grandmother told some of the best and most unique tales. She had a wonderful way of spicing up the traditional fable. According to her Cinderella was kept from the Prince’s ball by having to sort a jumble of Mung beans, Red beans and Soybeans. Snow White went on many dates with Prince Charming before they got married, their first date being a picnic in the park with sandwiches and sliced melons. These small deviations are what fascinate me with oral traditions. Ordinary events injected into fantasy worlds make them more believable, but at the same time it makes them extraordinary. Stories enable us to live a more vivid life.
I’ve spent countless hours gathering memories and pieces of different cultures by listening to incredible stories. I waited with childlike anticipation and delight on each storyteller’s words. I believe it’s my time to be the storyteller and to evoke the same delight and anticipation from my audience. Each story is a journey that gives us greater understanding of our past and our culture. Each story is a thread that connects us to each other, the storyteller holding one end and the audience the other. "
Diem Chau
It is this transition from the oral to the visual, which gives her work such an unique quality. Through her work we can experience her journey vicariously. Her choice of materials, crayons, conjure stories from our own childhood. She is neither sappy nor emigrant nostalgic, rather she shows us what she has experienced as not far from what we have felt. By this ability, Chau appeals to the storyteller in all of us. Both as collectors, and repeaters of our own narrative, we and she come to the same destination. It would be nice if we could remember that more often.
Her work was featured on the cover of The Stranger in February, and she presented her large-scale paintings at the Phinney Ridge Arts Center that same month. Diem Chau's Storytelling runs through the month of April at the Cafe Joe Bar. Curated by Jess Van Nostrand, Storytelling will have an opening reception on Wednesday, April 6 at Joe Bar at 810 E Roy St., from 6-9pm; 206.324.0407.
Read "Crayon carvings draw from a bygone childhood" by Judy Wagonfeld from the Friday April 22, 2005 PI
Visit www.diemchau.com
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